Courtesy: News.Az


Czech Republic fears Azerbaijan's futsal team

Thu 21 January 2010

The number of Brazilians playing for Azerbaijan makes them favourites for their match against the Czech Republic, Czech coach Tomas Neumann has said.

Azerbaijan are to play the Czechs later today in their next group game in the European Futsal Championship, which is taking place in Hungary.

Although the Czech Republic have beaten Azerbaijan in their three previous encounters, Neumann thinks that the Azerbaijanis are now the stronger team.

"The favourites are Azerbaijan because they have so many Brazilians," Neumann told UEFA's official website. "I have seen a lot of their matches on DVD; they have five Brazilian players and a few more born in Russia. For us, they are a very good team. We have a young squad. We have had to leave the Mares brothers at home, but I hope that we have a solid unit. I guess we will have to see."

In 1995, in qualifying for the UEFA European Futsal Tournament that preceded the modern championship, the Czech Republic beat Azerbaijan 10:2, but the gap between the sides closed in subsequent fixtures. In qualifying for the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Cup, the score was 8:4. In the tournament in 2008 the score was just 3:2.

Since then, persistent injuries have meant the Czechs can no longer call on their one-time team leaders, brothers Michal and Roman Mares, while the Azerbaijani ranks have been swelled by a flood of Brazilian-born talent, aiding them to a 3-1 win against hosts Hungary on Tuesday in their finals debut, leaving them a point away from the quarter-finals.

While commentators have welcomed Azerbaijan's surprise success in Hungary, doubts have been voiced over the number of Brazilians in the team.

A Russian commentator for Eurosport TV said during commentary on the Russia-Slovenia match, "We are very glad that another team from the post-Soviet area has reached the finals of the European championship. The Azerbaijani team showed in the game against Hungary that their qualification for the European Championship was no fluke. But if we look at the composition of the Azerbaijani team, we can see five Brazilians which is really too much. Azerbaijan has two Russian futsal players as well, which means foreigners play the most important role in the Azerbaijani team."


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com